truesee's Blog

EDINBURGH, Scotland, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- A man who dressed as the Norse god Thor for a costume party in Scotland said he returned home and scared off a burglar who had entered his house.

Torvald Alexander, 38, a construction firm manager who stands at 6 feet tall, said he ran after the burglar with his red cape and silver-winged helmet still in place, making for an intimidating sight, The Daily Telegraph reported Thursday.

"As soon as he saw me his eyes went wide with terror," Alexander said of the burglar. "He looked like he had had a few drinks and decided to do a late night break in, but he hadn't counted on the God of Thunder living here."

"I had just got back from a fancy dress New Year's party and because I have a Norwegian name I decided to go as Thor," he said.

Alexander said the burglar did not have time to steal anything from the house and fled from a ground floor window without his shoes. He said the shoes will be turned over to police to help them attempt to identify a suspect.

SETTLE, England, Jan. 1 (UPI) -- An English shopkeeper who wanted the day after Christmas off kept his store open with a sign telling customers to take what they needed and leave the money.

Tom Algie, who owns Practically Everything, a store catering to do-it-yourselfers in the village of Settle in Yorkshire, told The Daily Mail that he used a funnel and cereal box to create a container for payments. The next day, he found 187 pounds ($270) in the box.

The day after Christmas, known as Boxing Day, is a major holiday in England. Algie said that he wanted to spend the day with his family and to give his employees the day off as well.

"Settle is a lovely quiet rural town and there's never any trouble here. I put my faith in my customers and I wasn't disappointed," he said. "It was a spur of the moment decision, I just wanted to spend the holidays with my family but thought it would be quite nice to open up the shop, so this seemed like a good solution."

 United Press International, Inc.

08:54 AM PST on Tuesday, December 30, 2008

By ERIC ADAMS, kgw.com Staff

PORTLAND, Ore. -- A man who robbed a northeast Portland car wash is on the loose and police are asking for the public’s help in apprehending him.

Police said a masked man robbed the Washman Carwash on NE 81st Avenue Saturday morning, but his gun fell apart in the middle of the heist.

The suspect approached an employee at about 10:45 a.m., pulled a gun out from underneath his sweatshirt and demanded money.

He then dropped his gun and it fell apart, police said.

The suspect began waving his fist at the employee and demanded money, according to a police report, and the employee opened up the cash register.

But as the suspect reached for money the employee grabbed a power washer and sprayed him in the face, causing the suspect to flee on foot, westbound down NE Everett Street, police said.

The suspect was described by police as a white male in his 20s, about 6’ tall, weighing 180 pounds and wearing a black hooded sweatshirt with a white “skeleton” ski mask.

The employee described the man as having “unusually long arms” and dark eyes.

Police said the man should be considered armed and dangerous.

Crime Stoppers offered a $1,000 cash reward for information leading to an arrest in the case.

Dec 29, 2008 5:00 pm US/Mountain

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. (CBS) ?

Have you ever rubbed up against your cell phone in your pocket, causing it to randomly dial someone in your contact list without you realizing it? A similar situation happened to a man in Middletown, N.Y. – a man whose apparent plan to steal car parts was foiled when he "pocket-dialed" 911 in the middle of the act!

Sometime around 3 a.m. Monday at Sierra Auto Body Parts in Middletown, police say Andre Pryce and Fabian Corley were breaking into cars to steal parts. A third party, Xavier Jenkins, was waiting nearby in a getaway car, according to police.

The suspects were captured quickly by police because one of the suspects accidentally called them from his own cell phone.

"The criminal, or defendant actually called the police department accidentally and conversations were heard by the dispatcher," said Middletown Sgt. Jay Tobin.

On the police tapes one of the suspects is heard saying: "You better come! We're getting the tires…just shut the car off. They're going to think we're stealing it!"

That's when the dispatcher radioed officers saying, "It sounds like they're ripping a car off…it dialed in their pocket by accident. They're taking the tires off a car.

Police say when they arrived they caught two of the suspects in the act stealing parts from the cars. The suspects tried to run, jumped a fence, but there was no way out.

John Sierra Jr., who runs the shop, told CBS 2 that because of tough times, they'd been keeping customers' cars longer while they get back on their feet.

"Kind of like pay as you go along, so we're trying to help and it turns out this morning they broke into a couple vehicles, and it's really not a good time," he said.

If it wasn't enough that one of the culprits dialed 911 by accident, but the dispatcher kept the line open, monitored it and used GPS technology to pinpoint the location and tell cops exactly where to go.

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 27 (UPI) -- The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department says it is holding an emerald estimated to be worth as much as $370 million while the stone's owner is determined.

A department spokesman said the 850-pound gem will be in safekeeping until a federal judge determines who rightfully owns it.

The "Bahia Emerald" was reported stolen in September from a secured vault in South El Monte, Calif.

CNN reported the emerald has been at the center of a dispute between a California man who claimed ownership, a company with which he contracted to sell it and a potential buyer.

It is alleged the gemstone's owner tried to go around the broker, who received a $19 million offer, and sell the emerald to the same buyer for $75 million.

The Brazilian stone was located in a Las Vegas warehouse, where the person in possession claimed to be the rightful owner, Los Angeles Sheriff's Lt. Thomas Grubb said.

A federal judge ordered the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department to hold the 180,000-carat emerald until he can sort out the legal issues, Grubb said.

United Press International

Indiana Gazette, Saturday, December 27, 2008 12:41 PM EST

PAUL ELIAS, Associated Press Writer Paul Elias, Associated Press Writer – Friday Dec 26, 6:22 pm ET

LOS ANGELES – Proving that no good deed goes unpunished, the state's high court on Thursday said a would-be Good Samaritan accused of rendering her friend paraplegic by pulling her from a wrecked car "like a rag doll" can be sued.

California's Supreme Court ruled that the state's Good Samaritan law only protects people from liability if the are administering emergency medical care, and that Lisa Torti's attempted rescue of her friend didn't qualify.

Justice Carlos Moreno wrote for a unanimous court that a person is not obligated to come to someone's aid.

"If, however, a person elects to come to someone's aid, he or she has a duty to exercise due care," he wrote.

Torti had argued that she should still be protected from a lawsuit because she was giving "medical care" when she pulled her friend from a car wreck.

Alexandra Van Horn was in the front passenger seat of a car that slammed into a light pole at 45 mph on Nov. 1, 2004, according to her negligence lawsuit.

Torti was a passenger in a car that was following behind the vehicle and stopped after the crash. Torti said when she came across the wreck she feared the car was going to explode and pulled Van Horn out. Van Horn testified that Torti pulled her out of the wreckage "like a rag doll." Van Horn blamed her friend for her paralysis.

Whether Torti is ultimately liable is still to be determined, but Van Horn's lawsuit can go forward, the Supreme Court ruled.

Beverly Hills lawyer Robert Hutchinson, who represented Van Horn, said he's pleased with the ruling.

Torti's attorney, Ronald Kent, of Los Angeles didn't immediately return a telephone call